Dr. Doug Corey has been on the forefront of animal welfare issues in the rodeo industry, having served as a volunteer and chairman of the Professional Rodeo Cowboys Association’s (PRCA) Animal Welfare Council for many years, along with serving as the animal welfare adviser for Western Justice and several other industry organizations. Doug was instrumental in developing PRCA’s “Guide to Veterinary Services at PRCA Rodeos” and creating a full-time animal welfare position at the organization.
Doug received his DVM from Colorado State University and practiced veterinary medicine in Tennessee before moving back to Adams, OR, where he lives on his wife’s family ranch. He has a background in cattle and sheep ranching on his family’s side, along with hunting and raising timber. At his practice in Walla Walla, WA, his main emphasis was equine, although he did work with some other large animal livestock.
One of the hottest topics on Doug’s radar today is the ordinance pushed forward by Los Angeles city councilman Bob Blumenfield that would alter the rodeo industry as we know it today. In Blumenfield’s February 2021 motion, it requested the city attorney to create an ordinance that would ban “electric prods or shocking devices, flank or bucking straps, wire tie-downs, sharpened or fixed spurs or rowels, and lariats or lassos” from use in rodeos in the city of Los Angeles.
The city attorney finalized the language of the proposed ban in December 2021, but a final vote has not yet been taken by the Los Angeles City Council.
“PRCA and PBR already have rules and guidelines in place for mistreatment or any type of abuse,” Doug told WLJ. “It’s essentially a zero-tolerance policy.”
He said the ordinance was poorly written, and its reference to “wire tie-downs,” is not even accurate, because if wire was ever used for tie-downs, it has not been the case for many years. All tie-down materials are to be constructed with or covered by soft leather. “That’s how poorly written some of these things are,” he said.
The ordinance also wants to eliminate sharpened or fixed spurs, but PRCA rules require spurs to be dull and to roll freely.
Flank straps enhance the bucking action of an animal that has the natural inclination to buck, Doug said. Under PRCA standards, flank straps for bucking horses are fleece-lined and covered by sheepskin, and as the horse exits the bucking chute, they are pulled snugly like a belt. Flank straps are fitted with a quick-release, so they are able to be easily pulled off by a pickup rider. Flank straps for bulls are made of soft, cotton rope, and are tied depending on the bull’s preference.
“This ordinance says we like to abuse and torture animals,” Doug said. “There’s nothing further from the truth. Because if there’s anybody that cares as much about animals, it’s probably the Western way of life. This is an attack on our Western way of life.”
Doug emphasized that safety is taken very seriously at all PRCA or Professional Bull Rider (PBR) events, with veterinarians and livestock ambulances required onsite at all events. Safety ratings at events are very high, with injury rates at less than 1%. There are around 70 guidelines and rules in place to ensure the health and safety of livestock in PRCA events, which are being continuously updated.
Doug said the Los Angeles ordinance would affect events other than PRCA and PBR rodeo events, including events that celebrate the history of Mexican and Black cowboys. The ordinance would have implications for rodeos such as the Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, which commemorates the contributions of Black cowboys in building the American West; and charreria events, the traditional Mexican rodeo sporting event where charros demonstrate their horsemanship and roping skills.
“PRCA really has no rodeos in LA,” Doug said, “but if the ordinance passes, one of the problems with its passage is it may go to other big cities or counties that are not favorable to the Western lifestyle. And the ordinance could even end up in the state legislature and become a bill for the state.”
Doug continued, “If something passes in a liberal state like California, I think the chances are it can go to other states, too.”
On board with welfare
Doug said that one of the most important aspects of animal welfare in rodeo events is the education component. “You have to get everyone to buy into animal welfare,” he said. “The stock contractors, the contestants, the committees that put on rodeos … all of those are very important.
“There are many things that we used to do on ranches that are no longer acceptable in this day and age,” he said. He pointed to the often-used talking point of, “My dad did it this way, my grandfather did it this way, it will be okay if I do it that way.” To which Doug says, “Well, not really anymore.”
When animal welfare first became a priority for PRCA, there weren’t yet surveys and statistics related to welfare, and there were only a handful of people involved, Doug said. The effort eventually grew to hiring a livestock welfare coordinator and beginning to track statistics around the ’90s.
“You always have to turn in after an event is over how many animals there were, how many injuries and what events they were injured in,” he said. “We keep track of all of that and then we put that all together into statistics, which has been very helpful.”
Doug emphasized that those who own livestock do not want to see their animals injured, but most people who oppose rodeo events have already made up their minds, as shown by the ordinance’s introduction.
“It’s the Western way of life,” Doug concluded. “A lot of people have moved to the cities and urban areas and kind of forgot where food all comes from. I think they’ve lost touch with the way a lot of things have gone. I think it’s an extremely important aspect of our life that we need to keep that culture and that heritage alive.” — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
